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TT strength training

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blahness View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (3) Thanks(3)   Quote blahness Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: TT strength training
    Posted: 11/11/2015 at 6:14am
I noticed that many forum members here complain of various physical ailments such as knee pain, elbow pain, wrist pain, back pain, etc... due to playing table tennis.
 
As amateurs, we should try to be realistic about our bodies. The modern double inverted looping game is extremely demanding on physical fitness as we are mostly forced to generate all the pace and spin (unlike pushers and blockers who feed on others). However, it is also arguably one of the most fun styles to play and the most common. The problem is that players like Ma Long, Zhang Jike, Ovtcharov, they're professional players who are extremely conditioned and fit to play.
 
If we want to play a demanding style, we need to train up our body to be able to take the punishment. I would recommend those who already play TT regularly (2-3 times a week), to forego 1 session a week and go hit the gym.
 
Strength training does the following for you:
 
1) Prevent injuries. Stronger muscles can take more load off your joints and ligaments, and can handle a lot more punishment allowing you to stay injury free for a long long time!
 
2) Improve your performance. With stronger muscles, your loops become spinnier and more powerful, your footwork becomes faster, and you can reach a lot more balls you thought was impossible to reach, your recovery time goes down due to increased conditioning, and you can enjoy much better endurance.
 
3) Make you look better. Having a strong, lean and mean body always looks much better, and you'll gain a lot of confidence in other areas of your life. Strength training builds muscles which increase your metabolic rate, making fat loss much more sustainable.
 
4) Make you healthier. Having a strong body would also give you uncountable health benefits such as lower chances of cardiovascular diseases, joint diseases and other problems in life.
 
1 program that can be followed really easily is StrongLifts 5x5. The program requires you to commit 3 times a week, ~1 hr per session (very economical in terms of time!) but you can just as easily do once a week (just that you see slower gains). You can find out all about the program at http://stronglifts.com/. It's free btw!
 
It consists of these 5 simple exercises:
1) Barbell Squats
This is basically putting a barbell onto your back and then squatting. This is recommended by Dimitrij Ovtcharov for TT, and also in some videos Ma Long can be seen doing them too. It is a compound exercise targeting your lower body as well as your lower back. This will seriously increase your explosiveness in your legs allowing you to jump in either direction powerfully. It also allows you to sustain a lower body position for much longer, and also works wonders for generating power in your loops. You want Zhang Jike quads? You do more barbell squats! The huge amount of exertion from the squats also helps you to burn fat fast, and builds more muscle which will increase your metabolic rate allowing you to burn more fat even faster!
 
2) Overhead Barbell Shoulder Press
This basically is lifting a barbell from chest position to the overhead position. It is a compound exercise targeting the shoulders mainly. This would help you strengthen and protect the shoulder joint, which is increasingly important for both FH and BH loops.
 
3) Barbell Pendlay rows. Have your back straight and 90 degrees to the ground then pull the barbell from the ground to your chest explosively, pulling your elbows to the ceiling. This trains up your back muscles which will allow you to prevent injuries in your back.
 
4) Barbell Deadlifts
Trains up that core and lower back which improves your torso muscles = juicier FH loops!
 
5) Barbell Bench press.
Lying down and pushing a barbell from your chest upwards. This trains up your chest muscles mainly, which benefits your FH loops.
 
Additional exercises:
 
Wide grip and reverse grip pull ups. The former trains up your lats which improves the stability of your shoulder blades and joints which are very useful for BH loops, while the latter improves your bicep strength which is very useful for the FH loop (basically it trains up the forearm snap which is critical for FH loops!)
 
Weighted hanging leg raises/Captain's chair leg raises. This is an abs exercise, also for developing a good core (juicier loops! Wink). Basically you grab a dumbbell with your legs and try to lift it up. It will develop your abs fast!
 
Some personal tips:
1) Don't listen to those guys using chalk to improve grip. Buy yourself some quality lifting gloves. This will prevent a lot of the nasty callouses that tend to develop after heavy lifting. Tongue
 
2) Posture and form is key. Be sure to read the Stronglifts article on grip, and form. Just like Table tennis, you will achieve much more with good form.
 
3) Eat well, i.e. eat more quality meat, eggs and vegetables, and try to get junk food such as chips and soft drinks out of your diet! You can buy some protein shakes such as whey protein which I think help out with the soreness quite a lot and boosts progress.
 
Hope the following is useful!
-------
Viscaria
FH: Hurricane 8-80
BH: D05

Back to normal shape bats :(
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aerial View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote aerial Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11/11/2015 at 8:47am
I did stronglifts 5x5 for the bigger part of this year and I had to say things were going swell--unfortunately I still injured my lower back due to a culmination of reasons... traveling for work via airplane from NY to CA (4 hour ride each way), then driving to AZ 3 hours, working there for the week, driving back to CA 3 hours, and I have been commuting a lot on the weekends (4 hour ish ride each way), so that has definitely took a toll on the back...

For what its worth, the travelling totally messed up my weightlifting/strengthening program and I got injured when I didn't workout for a good week and a half... so I still have nothing but good things to say about stronglifts 5x5. Not to mention after I was able to squat my body weight or greater I could really feel like my forehand loop had gotten stronger (so long as I made a nice shot and not a "love-tap").



I haven't touched the weights or the paddle for what seems like forever... just jogging on the treadmill and trying to do stretches/yoga... woe is me
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ringer84 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11/11/2015 at 1:32pm
Wow, I can't believe someone actually recommended heavy compound weightlifting on a table tennis forum.  It really is the best thing you can do to improve your performance. 

Here is the best book ever written in order to learn how to properly perform the 5 lifts blahness has mentioned:





Edited by Ringer84 - 11/11/2015 at 1:34pm
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CraneStyle View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote CraneStyle Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11/11/2015 at 2:01pm
Remaining supple is equally important as speed and strength...
1. Mizutani Jun ZLC, FH T80, BH T05
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DreiZ View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote DreiZ Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11/11/2015 at 2:23pm
Since the majority of forum members here are probably older than 25 I want to chime in on the lifting advice.

Being an amateur lifter since 18 up to now, 25, I would not recommend squats and deadlifts to increase strength for table tennis. Certainly if you want to gain mass in your lower body those two exercise are the best but for quickness and reaction, compound lifts might have more cons than pros for players who put a lot of emphasis on footwork within their game.

A little backstory, I started lifting at 18, about 6'3 155 and reached 225 at one point. I did standard compound lifts and isolation. At my heaviest I was also the slowest, and that's still at around 12-13% body fat.

Ofcourse compound lifts won't build too much mass for you if you maintain a good diet, but speaking realistically not all of us can do that while working 9-5, having families, etc.

My advice is to focus more on plyometrix, light cardio, dynamic and static stretching, core exercises, light weight training for lower legs. Soreness is great after compound lifting but it also increases your chances of injury during something strenuous like table tennis.

I've already acquired a list of injuries not directly caused by compound lifting, but could have been prevented with more experience. It's just that squats and deadlifts require near perfect form that should be taught and observed first and then performed on your own; along with core strength to help stabilize any weight. If one of these two variables is lacking, it could cause pretty serious injury to your lower back or legs.

Tbh, table tennis does not require much power to create shots. It does require a lot of endurance and flexibility, and that can be trained very easily and effectively without compound lifts, especially for the older crowd that are thinking of trying compound lifting as strength training, please re-consider. For the younger players, if you do try these exercises, first learn how to properly perform them from someone who understands kinesiology, physical therapists and chiropractors are knowledgable, that way at least you will lay a solid foundation for your form. Do not go to gym personal trainers, most of them may seem like they know the topic but in reality will probably just bs you.

Take it or leave it. Just my 40two+ cents.

Edited by DreiZ - 11/11/2015 at 2:32pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote DreiZ Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11/11/2015 at 2:50pm
To add.

All exercises that were listed are great but can develop postural misalignments and imbalances. That's the long term negative with compound lifting and regular weight lifting, it can take months and months of proper physical therapy to undo that damage. Worst case scenario, injury related surgery.

Just beware. Like with anything, take any advice lightly but do your own research and actually go to the right sources for proper exercise routine. IMO forums is not the best source for this, as good as OPs intentions are.

Edited by DreiZ - 11/11/2015 at 2:55pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote heavyspin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11/12/2015 at 11:07am
Interesting topic. I used to lift heavy weights back in the day before table tennis took over my life. I credit my fh loop to having a strong leg base from my heavy squats background, but I stopped such heavy lifting once I became a competitive TT player. I think high reps (8-15 per set) with lower weight is for the TT player as opposed to the power lifting low reps (3-5) with heavier weights. 

At the moment I'm regularly training for fitness and strength competitions that my gym runs 4 times per year. (Yes, I realize that Heavyspin in a fitness competition sounds contradictory). I may start a new topic on that. My TT practice has reduced to once per week and, interestingly, I played well at a tournament last Sunday.   


Edited by heavyspin - 11/12/2015 at 11:30am
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wilkinru View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote wilkinru Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11/12/2015 at 4:22pm
There are many exercises that are a little less intense than these...

For what it's worth I'm doing this routine, even tho it is for runners.

(no I can't do the 1 leg squat that low)



Add in some of these to round it out:

TB ZLF
inverted
inverted
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heavyspin View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote heavyspin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11/12/2015 at 6:49pm
I'm beginning to get results from my most recent routine, resistance training. 



Edited by heavyspin - 11/12/2015 at 6:55pm
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DreiZ View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote DreiZ Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11/12/2015 at 9:10pm
Haha nice one heavyspin. Keep doing work!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Argothman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11/12/2015 at 9:27pm
For what it's worth, I would avoid plyometrics - definitely not good for your knees in the long run.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote DreiZ Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11/12/2015 at 10:24pm
Originally posted by Argothman Argothman wrote:

For what it's worth, I would avoid plyometrics - definitely not good for your knees in the long run.


Technically so does walking, running, and bending down while playing table tennis but... you know.... People still do it.

Basic plyos for beginners is as simple as jumping in one place (jump rope) or stepping on a step ladder one leg at a time. It doesn't have to be exerted with maximum force. You are probably thinking of advanced plyos that athletes perform on regular basis, which can pose a serious risk of injury in the long run.

It wouldn't put a beginner lifter in more risk of injury than compound lifting would. Just saying.

Edited by DreiZ - 11/12/2015 at 10:25pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Danzors Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11/12/2015 at 10:36pm
I think kettlebell swings are a good compromise for what Dreiz is describing, I use a 35 lbs kettlebell and also try to incorporate reverse lunges for legs. For upper body, I definitely recommend some type of pull to cancel out all the pushing motions in TT. Bent over rows are good but I always prefer dumbells over barbells. Pullups are probably also great but can't say I've ever applied it to TT.
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